The Supreme Court yesterday held that the abolition of the Maharashtra minorities commission set up by the former Congress government would not adversely affect the interests of the minorities.
The Shiv Sena government had abolished the commission and a public interest petition against this was filed in the Bombay High Court. The court dismissed the petition. Later the appeal was also dismissed by a division bench, consisting of Justice K Ramaswamy and Justice G T Nanavati, also upheld the abolition.
It may be that the perception of political parties differs from one another. One perception may not be correct in the view of another political party. The decision may or may not be right, but it cannot be characterised as a mala fide decision, the judges asserted.
The court pointed out that the Union government has been enjoined to constitute a national commission for minorities under a 1992 legislation. Such a commission is working and the Union government has undertaken to set up a branch of the national commission in Maharashtra. Therefore, there was no need for apprehension that the rights and the safeguards given to the minorities would not be monitored, according to the judgment.